


Ranch Friends

by Lora_Blackmane



Series: Zine Pieces [6]
Category: Slime Rancher (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Minor Violence, Pat is not my oc to be clear, darn rainbow beasts, the angst is at the end tho, they're a fellow contributor's oc from the SR OC zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lora_Blackmane/pseuds/Lora_Blackmane
Summary: Tera meets up with Pat, the grand-kid of an old friend, and offers her support in helping the kid start their ranch journey. Not everything goes to plan.
Relationships: Tera L. Baron & Pat
Series: Zine Pieces [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712656





	Ranch Friends

**Author's Note:**

> My 3rd piece for the SR OC zine! This one actually has a photo that goes w/ it you can find here for free https://gumroad.com/l/HTpSl

Tera fell onto the bed, groaning in exhaustion. Bernie and Artie followed her in, quickly starting to do what they did best - mess up her room. 

Slime above she did not need this, she thought as she watched them climb onto her bookshelf. She had dealt with enough problems today, and she didn’t even want to  _ think  _ about another one - especially not after the Tarr outbreaks she had to deal with. Sweet Gordo, did she hate Tarr outbreaks. Quietly deciding not to deal with the two little demon's antics after the day she had, she turned her head so she couldn't see them and started to drift to sleep...

Just as she was starting to become one with the pillows her computer beeped, startling her out of the blissful moment of sleep.

Son of a Tarr. She grumbled as she got up and grabbed the little handheld computer,moving Bernie, who had been perched on top of it, with a gentle push. If it was Viktor asking about for more of her Quantum slimes for an experiment - 

Oh.

This wasn't a Starmail like most would assume, instead it was a Range Exchange message. She had honestly forgotten she had routed the videos to go here. She didn't know someone new was coming today. Then again, maybe they weren't new and were just really late with sending their Range Exchange message. She herself hadn't sent hers out until almost a month after getting her ranch. She looked at the name of the sender - Pat… something. The rest of the name was covered by some slime Bernie had gotten on it when they were laying on top of it earlier. As she wiped it away her mind started to drift for a bit. The name sounded familiar, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. It took her a little while to remove the slime, but eventually she could see the kid’s name: Pat Montgomery.

Montgomery huh…wait a second that was Ol' Henry’s last name!

God did she miss that man, he had helped her learn the ropes of ranching when she had first come here. He taught her the best places to grow crops and offered her support on days when her luck just wasn't that strong. He became the grandfather she didn't have anymore, and not just to her. All of the ranchers in this area became connected because of him. His death had been hard on their little community, but they had all banded together to try to give him a proper burial. The Tarr outbreak really ruined the event, but at least they didn't accidentally throw his body into the sea somehow like they did with Misses Maki’s...

She quickly shook her head, ridding that memory from her head. That wasn't important right now - she had a message to watch. She sat back down on her bed, moving her arms slightly up to let Artie and Bernie sit in her lap, and pressed play. A short kid appeared on the screen, wearing a straw sunhat on their fluffy yellow hair. The kid messed with the camera for a moment, then they spoke.

“Hey I guess you live here now? Good for you, all you’ve done is become my competition, thanks a lot. No matter, I know my farm’s products are superior. But I mean... if you wanted to trade I wouldn’t... object...”

Tera let out a loud bark of laughter, startling Bernie and causing them to fall out of her lap. Ol' Henry was right - his grandkid was quite the character! She liked their spark. She sent a quick message over Starmail to them, saying hello and offering her support. She wasn't sure if they'd take her up on the offer, but she would always have the offer open. After all, she had promised Henry that she'd look after them if his grandkid ever came here. And a Baron, a true Baron, never broke a promise if they could help it.

* * *

Pat looked at the Starmail email they just received and frowned as they read it. Who was this weirdo, and why were they interested in them? Did grandad know them? Were they trying to scam Pat? If so, then Ha! They were completely broke. Pat was about to delete their message and move on… but something stopped them.

...Wasn't Tera the name of granddad's old friend? Yeah, Tera Baron. Grandpa Henry used to talk about her sometimes, said she was a good help around the ranch…

Maybe… this person actually did want to help. If that was the case, then who were they to turn away free help? Maybe they could use this ‘Tera’ person to teach them the best way to get this ranch working. Grandpa Henry had paid a lot of his money to make sure the place wouldn’t be reset when he died, and for that Pat was grateful, but the old man hadn’t left any instructions for anything! They didn't know what a 'plort' or a 'Cuberry' was or what to do with them! But, Tera probably did...

Making up their mind, they sent an email of their own to the rancher.

* * *

Tera teleported over to the Montgomery farm, dusting of her overalls as she stepped off the platform. She started to walk towards Henry's - Pat's farm, wondering about the person she was going to meet. She knew that they were quite feisty considering their Range Exchange message, but she didn't know much else. She knew from Henry talking about the kid was from the city, could be a little bit of a brat sometimes, but not much else. Would they even get along? What if the hated her-

"Well, it's about time you got here."

Tera flinched and rubbed the side of her head. Just a minute in and they were already off to a rough start huh? She opened her mouth to apologize, when suddenly a hand was shoved into her face. "Pat. Pat Montgomery. You're Tera Baron, right? Granddad talked about you sometimes."

She stared at the hand for a second longer before taking it. "Yep, that's me. Tera Baron at your service."

The kid scrutinized her for another second, then nodded. It seemed like Pat was satisfied with whatever they saw in her. "Ok, to start off with your lessons," they shoved a Red Vacpack in her face, "what is this and how do I use it?"

"You've… never seen a Vacpack kid?"

Pat glared at her. "No. What of it?" 

Tera put up her hands in a placating gesture. "Nothing! Sorry I was just surprised is all." 

She grabbed it and turned it towards the side, letting Pat see the buttons on it. "It sorta works like a vacuum: you press this button and it sucks things up!"

"This one?" Pat's finger hovered over the button.

“Kid that’s probably not the best id-” 

Before she could finish her sentence Pat’s finger hit the trigger of the Vacpack. It turned on, grabbing onto the kid’s face. It made a horrible sound as it continued to try and suck them in, and Tera panicked as she tried to turn it off. After she got it off the lesson continued, until Pat was able to use it right. She nodded approvingly as they used it to suck up some fruit.

"Great job kid! Now you see that pink slime over there?" Tera pointed to a little pink slime bouncing around the front gate. 

"Yeah I see the lil' monster! That slimes’ been eating all of my crops!" The kid shook a fist at the little guy, making Tera laugh. 

"Yeah that guy. Try using the pack to grab 'em." Pat nodded and chased after the slime, the pack on full power. But Tera could see why Pat called them a little monster - the slime was quick and evaded the whirling air vortex the Vacpack made with surprising ease. It seemed to be taunting the kid too - the darn thing stole their hat right off their head! She couldn't contain her laughter when she saw that. "Your little buddy is pretty smart, you know that?"

Pat glared at her. "This monster is not my buddy!"

"If you say so."

It took several more attempts for Pat to figure out how to properly use the device, but by the end of the lesson the kid finally sucked the slime up! The kid threw a fist into the air and shouted with delight as Tera clapped. 

"Alright kid! Now let's try outside the ranch." 

Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she had thought it would be.

* * *

It seemed like she spoke too soon.

“Kid, it’s not safe there - where did you go?” Tera yelled out into the pathway, quickly running in. They had been exploring near the tabby Gordo when suddenly Pat had found the pathway to the mountains. She wasn't even sure how they had gotten up there; it had taken her using her jet boosters to get to where they were. But that wasn't important now - what was important was getting them out of here, she thought as she looked at the skull sign.

They had barely learned how to use their Vacpack, there was no way they could defend themselves from an angry Largo! She looked around for any trace of the kid, but didn't see them.

"Kid, you've gotta come back here! It's not safe-" 

A growl came from her left side.

She slowly turned to her left to see a tabby largo. A very angry tabby largo. And she didn't bring any meat with her. This wasn't good.

Tera started to slowly back up. "H-hey there buddy. How are you-"

The angry largo slammed onto her left leg, causing her to scream in pain. She activated the Pulse Wave, shoving the angry slime off of her and into the wall. It roared in anger as she scrambled to get up, only to yell in pain as she crumbled to the ground. 

_ Son of a Tarr!  _

The angry tabby had hit her bad leg. She wasn't going to be able to run away from this battle. She looked up as it slammed into her again, throwing her into the cliffside.

Was… was there always three of them? She tried to get up, but everything suddenly… just seemed so tiring.

The maw of the beast slowly inched closer to her face.

She could see the inside of its jaw...

"Tera!" 

Something suddenly hit the tabby in the face, shoving it off her. It shrieked and started to move wildly trying to get the small thing (a pink slime her brain provided) off of it. The largo threw it off the slime and it was sucked into a whirlwind of air just as she was grabbed from behind.

She was pulled towards the phosphor cave as the tabby largo screamed and moved towards her. Pat shoved her onto the cliffside and climbed up behind her, barely missing the slime's jaws as it jumped at them. 

Pat kicked it, throwing the beast into the ocean.

And just like that silence reigned. Pat sat on the rocks, panting, before they grabbed her and climbed across the cliffside until they were near the tunnel leading to the rock slimes area. 

Huh. 

I didn't know that was possible, she blearily thought as Pat helped her walk to their ranch - basically pulling her there. The kid looked up at her, worried, but she didn't register that.

* * *

"Are - are you alright mam?" The kid gave her a concerned look as they helped her sit down on a fallen log near their farm.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine kid. Just tired is all." Pat doubted any of that statement was true - well besides her being tired. The lady looked absolutely tired, her hair disheveled and her overalls torn near the bottom of her leg. She wasn't even looking in Pat's general direction as she had said it - could she even see right now? Was that something you could lose from exhaustion?

They waved a hand in her face, which she shoved away - almost causing her to fall off the log.

"Honest- honestly I'll b' good kid. Can… can you do me a favor tho' Pat?"

They quickly nodded. "Sure, what - what do you need?" 

She grabbed a carrot from her pocket and shoved it into Pat's general vicinity. "Go to my farm and get Gio - Giovan… can ya get Gio for me? You can't miss 'em, he's a big ol' tab - tabby slime. If he don't follow you immedi- immediate… if he doesn't come quickly just grab tha carrot and shout, 'follow boy!' He should… he'll probably follow you then."

They grabbed the carrot from her hands and pocketed it. "Ok... I'll be right back!" 

They turned to leave, but then stopped. Pat turned back towards her and placed the small pink slime in her lap. They kneeled down to eye level of the slime and pointed at the little guy. "Do not let her move."

It stole Pat's hat instead of responding. They were  _ pretty  _ sure that the strange creature understood them; so they left for the teleporter - satisfied that Tera wouldn't be allowed to move.

* * *

As they stepped off the teleporter they immediately knew which creature she was talking about. A giant pink cat like slime was running around, a carrot in their mouth. It seemed… sort of distressed. But that wasn't Pat's problem - they just needed to get it onto the teleporter. What did she call it again? Giovan? Gordan? 

...Oh right!

"Giovanni!" The giant slime quickly turned towards Pat. It dropped the carrot and ran towards them, quite quickly... too quickly to stop actually!

"Whoa there; wait-" 

The slime slammed into Pat, throwing them both into the teleporter. They landed on the other side and the creature ran off. "Wait come back here!" Pat yelled as they ran after the slime. Where was it going?! They needed it to stop so they could bring it to Tera!

...Wait. They grabbed the carrot from their pocket and let out a sharp whistle, which made the slime turn towards them. It's eyes widened as it noticed the carrot in their hand. 

Perfect. "Follow boy!" 

The slime followed after them and they quickly went back to where Tera was sitting. Or had been sitting - she was now laying on her side, the pink slime Pat had told to watch her laying on top of her. They didn't want to wake her, but Giovanni had another idea.

The slime ran towards her as soon as they got near - carrot forgotten at the sight of the slime's beloved rancher. It shoved it's body into her face, waking her up from her rest; but she didn't seem to mind. "Hey, Gio. There's my good boy."

She patted the top of the slime, causing the pink tabby to shriek in delight, then turned towards Pat. "Thanks a million kid."

They blushed as they grabbed the slime (and their hat, which they placed on their head). "It… it wasn't a problem. How are you feeling?"

“Eh, it’ll be alright kid. Trust me, this ol’ leg has had worse things happen to it.” She gently slapped her leg, wincing after doing so. That was probably not the best idea she’s ever had. 

“Don’t worry about it kid, I’ll be fine. I’m just glad I was able to help you get on your feet. Trust me, your new friend is gonna be a great help.” 

She gently patted the pink slime Pat had found - which had stolen their hat again - and gave it a fond, nostalgic smile. “I remember how hard things were when I started. If it hadn’t been for your grandpa I don’t think I would have ever gotten as far as I have so far considering how bad my luck can be.”

“O-ok, if you’re sure. Do you need help getting back? It’s the least I can do.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. That’s why I asked you to get Giovanni for me.” She turned towards the Pink Tabby Largo, which had wandered off, and yelled out, “Gio, boy!”

The slime quickly ran to her, picking her up and causing her to laugh. “That’s my boy. Now come on, home Giovanni!”

Pat watched as the slime quickly turned and scurried toward the warp gate to Tera’s house, their rancher smiling and waving goodbye from where it held her in its mouth. 

Pat decided they were perfectly fine with never feeling as comfortable as Tera did with hers considering how infamous slimes were for their endless hunger.

They waved goodbye, holding their new slime close to their chest, before walking back to the section of the ranch where the pens were. They needed to find a space for the new guy.


End file.
